Fate/stay night: Chilling Winter Chapter Three: Lancer
Shirou peered down at the intruder with fearful contempt consuming his eyes, to frightened to speak; dazed, feeling like he wants to black out, he got a sudden flash of deja vu, which was strange because he had sworn that he’d never seen death before. His vision faded in and out, Tohsaka Mansion, and repeat. He shook his head viciously, gripping his temples tightly, attempting to control the dizziness and strange visions it was a hollow effort. Rin rested a hand gently on his shoulder, a concerned look on her face, making her faded red lipstick more noticeable. They locked eyes for a couple of minutes, but the moment was broken as the intruder started forward, pointing his spear up at them with an annoyed expression on his face. “Are you Masters in the Holy Grail War?” He inquired hastily, his slicked back hair glimmering in the sunlight. Stuttering slightly, but not hesitating Rin shouted, “That’s right, Servant! And you would be?” Giving a venomous grin, he responded, “Your worst nightmare!” The man leaped high above them, twirling his lance above him so fast it looked like a high speed fan, and lashed down toward them, Rin and Shirou jumping in opposite directions to dodge the assault, his staff slicing through the ground like butter, the force leveling what little remained of the second floor. The man stuck the landing, Shirou and Rin crashing down on either side of him. Rin scrambled to her feet with a start, Shirou only managing one knee; he was scratched and bruised from the fall, his eyes watery from shock, while she had the same wounds, but seemed more composed than him. Rin had a noticeable additional scratch on her arm, reaching from the heel of her hand just barely to her neck, which must have been from the enemy’s weapon, she figured. In what seemed like an instant, the assailant appeared in front of Rin and attacked, pressing his lance forward, gripping it with both hands. In retaliation, Rin used magic to summon a red shield in front of her, muttering some gibberish that Shirou couldn't make out and the opponent didn’t care to make out, if he was paying attention at all, which was highly unlikely. The defense held just long enough for her to back away and then approach Shirou, on the other side of the room, by flipping high over the enemy’s head. Grabbing hold of his hand, Rin brought Shirou to his feet and lead him against his will out of the mansion, the enemy chasing after them. Rin was running so fast that she and Shirou could barely make out what each other was saying. “Rin, wait, I--” Shirou attempted, but was briefly silenced due to the roughness of their sprint. “Don’t talk, Shirou, we need to get to some place safe.” She demanded, not even acknowledging him with her eyes, focusing on arriving at their destination. “But, w hat about, y-your g-guards, and Alfred?” He inquired. “What are you, stupid?” Rin hissed angrily. “They’re dead!” Her hair blew gently in Shirou’s face. “Yeah, but we should at least bury them!” He insisted. “I take that back, Shirou, you ARE stupid!” She responded with venom. “If we go back there, we’re dead. WE have to get to a location where we constantly summon our Servants!” Before Shirou could respond in any way, the enemy appeared again, flying toward them, gliding over the ground. He continuously swung his lance at them, each slash faster and more deadly than the last, the air visibly picking up rough circulation as he lashed out. Rin kept Shirou and herself out of the line of attack, hoisting her hands underneath of his armpits so she couldn’t launch a counterattack. Rin ducked them behind a truck sitting along a road in serious need of paving, which he promptly destroyed; using the debris to their advantage, Rin and Shirou managed to escape into a nearby shed, Shirou holding onto Rin’s wrist tightly. Once deep inside the shed, Rin and Shirou sat down on some convinient boxes, both of them panting hard and sweating profusley from the long run for their lives. Shirou spoke up first, taking awhile due to the huffing and puffing. “W-What are we doing here?” “We’re gonna summon our Servants.” She responded, addly more calm than him, her breath ore controlled than his. “But--” Rin cut him off, as if she had read his mind. “Don’t worry, I’ll help.” She assured him. “Have you done this before?” He inquired. “No.” She answered, quickly making room in the shed. “The previous war was ten years ago, in 1994. I have practiced a lot over the years, though.” Shirou began to blink suddenly as images flashed through his head again; intense flames bluring vision, buildings and landscapes crumbling, and the face of a kind man, whom he called father, tears swelling up in his eyes, a crooked smile on his redened face. All this also happened ten years ago. Rin pulled out a marker and drew a large thick pentagram on the ground where she’d cleared space, and then her lifted a small blade off the ground and slit her arm, spilling her blood all over the drawing. She approached Shirou, who backed away hesitatingly. She grabbed his arm and looked him hard in the eyes, sending an icy gaze taht always made him cooperate, regardless of the circumstances. She sliced his arm, the same way she did hers. His blood was a tiny bit darker red than hers. Shirou winced from the pain, using his other hand to cover his mouth so he didn’t scream out and give away their location. His blood dripped on the pentagram over top of hers, then blood slowly mixing together a little bit; them, as if it was possessed, the blood began to emit a strange, red fume--something that blood was definitely not supposed to do--and caught Shirou off guard. He stopped wincing, dropping his hand from his mouth, because the pain was already beginning to subside. “Place your hands like this.” She demanded, demonstrating for him. “Wait, Rin!” Shirou exclaimed, more stern this time. “There’s no way I can help here, all I’ve ever been taught is reinforcement magic. I can fix household appliances and electronics, not summon Servants!” “Relax, just let me do the hard part.” She said. “all you need to do is release your mana into the pentagram.” Without any more words Shirou did as she said; he sat on one end of the pentagram, placing each of his hands on one of the points. Rin did the same, right across from him. At the same time, they released their mana into the pentagram; by this time the blood amount has increased and filled the entirety of the drawing, which glowed bright red. Shirou was having a noticeably more difficult time with the summoning than Rin, due to his limited mana reserves. Winds began to circulate, faster, faster, faster, until eventually the gusts started to break apart the rickety shack they were concealed inside off. This caught the attention of the enemy, who had been wandering around outside, looking for them, his face turning from an annoyed grimace to a smug, arrogant smile He raised his lance, prepared to make an entrance himself, but the doors suddenly gave away, the walls and the roof following shortly afterward. Although pleased at first, his grin quickly shifted to a frown when he saw something exit the dense dust left in the wake of the explosion. It struck him point blank in the stomach, causing him to fly back and fall to the ground, coughing up blood profusely. Gazing down, he saw, in his daze, what had pierced him; an arrow, abnormally long, was sticking almost half way through him. A figure stepped out of the smoke, had to have been seven feet tall, or just about, with silver, slicked back hair, and carrying a quiver of arrows on his back, holding his bow in his left hand,s porting an expressionless face, making reading his emotions or thoughts neigh impossible, even for the most perceptive of individuals. He raised his bow and coked another arrow, and the enemy retreated back, raising his lance in self defense, but he was too slow; another arrow was fired, this one seeming to almost teleport as it reached him, piercing through his knee cap. With that, he collapsed, lance sticking out of the ground, his hand, drenched in his own blood, gripping it tightly, his other hand holding his stomach, his shattered knee on the ground due to his inability to lift his leg. The new Servant was adorned in a black body armor, metal plated shoes, and a red overcoat which covers his arms and upper torso, and is fashioned and tied with an agemaki knot. The new Servant turned around, toward the cleared dust, gazing at Shirou and Rin, who were sitting on the ground in a daze. Behind them stood the other Servant that was summoned, shorter than the other, with long, golden hair that glimmered in the sunlight, tied in a bun in the back and two strands clipped up on both sides of her head. She wore a large, ringmail armor, and was wielding a strange sword the size of a broadsword, but definitely not the shape of one. The Servant with the bow spoke up first. “Which one of you is my Master?” His voice was slow, deep, and brooding. Shirou could barely speak for a moment and even if he could he didn’t know the answer to the question. Rin nudged his side with her elbow. Taking the hint he stood up and said, “M-Me...” in almost a whisper. The Servant bowed to him respectfully laying his bow between them, his right knee and left fist touching the ground. “Master. I am Archer. I am pleased to be of Service to you.” Shirou winced with unease. He felt very uncomfortable having people bow to him. “S-Stand up.” Shirou stated, a little louder this time. “Please don’t bow to me, I don’t like it.” Archer gave him a confused look but did as he was told. He rose, towering above Shirou, his shadow enveloping him, visibly intimidating him a bit. “So I guess you are my Master, then?” The female Servant said, walking toward Rin with a satisfied grin on her face. Before Rin could answer she just bowed, sticking her sword into the ground, bending a knee and bowing her head respectfully. “I am Saber. Pleased to meet your acquaintance, miss.” Rin climbed to her feet and shifted her attention to the enemy Servant, using her hands to motion for Saber, who rose and stood alongside her. “What is your name, Servant?” She ordered. He could barely speak, but managed to give an answer through a blood-filled mouth. “L-Lancer.” Even though he was clearly in pain, he didn’t sound angry; in fact, it sounded as if he was attempting to chuckle slightly. Rin looked like she wasn’t surprised. “Where is your Master, Lancer? Why has he not accompanied you?” At this, Lancer gave a huge laugh, which was short lived due to the pain and the blood in his mouth. “My Master is somewhat of a craven, you see. He won’t confront actual danger unless she has to. So he sent me alone.” Lancer explained. “Not sure if he has faith in my abilities, or if I’m being sacrificed over here.” He said with a chuckle. Most of the blood had dripped from his mouth at this point, so his speech was a lot more clear. “You’re being sacrificed.” Archer said plainly, pulling back his arrow, but he was stopped by Shirou, who simply put his hand in front of his Servant. After a moment’s pause, he stepped forward, a bit more confidence this time--probably because he currently had two Servants and one Mage on his side--and said, “You didn’t answer the entire question. Where is your Master, Lancer?” “Somewhere in this god forsaken city.” Lancer rose to his feet, still in pain, but trying to hide it. “He changes locations all the time, so I couldn’t tell where he was at currently. And even if I could--” Before he could finish, he dropped to both knees, and began whaling in agonizing pain. He let go of his lance, using his hand opposite to grip his chest. Shouting loudly, to nobody in particular, or at least not anybody present, he said, “W-What are you doing, you stupid fool! I’m taking care of it!” Rin, Shirou, Archer, and Saber gave unbelievably confused gazes, Archer lowering his bow and even chuckling a bit at the site. Without warning, however, Lancer grabbed his weapon and lunged at the four confronting him. Archer leaped high into the air to dodge the assault, but dropped his bow in the wake of the shock, keeping flight. Shirou turned around and ran, while Rin jumped backward to avoid Lancer. And Saber, hazel eyes filled with confidence, clutched her fists together as if she were holding a sword, and slashed in a motion. To everyone’s surprise, she managed to harm Lancer, who flailed back, blood spewing from his body. After Lancer flipped backward and stuck the landing, charging forward at Saber, she did the same toward him, clashing her seemingly non existent sword with his lance, grinding the two down their lengths, Lancer leaping far over her head, landing hard several feet away on the other side, his teeth gritted with clearly visible anger and suffering mixing together in his gaze. He slowly stepped backward, his legs shaking with an odd struggle, signifying that he probably wanted to continue attacking, but couldn’t for some reason. Attempting to finish him off, Archer received his bow from the ground, his hand gripping it with his feet held high into the air, flipping backward, and fired another arrow, several seconds before he landed on the ground, sticking the landing, but Lancer gave in and spun around, leaping away, rapidly picking up speed until he had ran out of sight, leaving a trail of dust in his wake, Archer’s arrow landing in the center of the smoke. Archer lowered his bow, putting the next arrow he grabbed away, and Saber unclutched and lowered her hands, what she was holding as a weapon still a mystery. The four of them gazed stunningly at the wreckage and debris around them, caused by both the summoning and their fight with Lancer. Rin gave a pleased smile, due to their being no casualties or ordinary people who simply saw the conflict, but Shirou’s face was that of a scowl, annoyance and confusing rising. “What the hell was that?” Shirou exclaimed, breaking the silence. “His Master must have used a command seal to force Lancer to return.” Rin responded. Shirou blinked twice, after which Saber continued for Rin. “All Servants are bound to their Masters via their command seals. Each Master has three, which allows them to bend their Servants to their will a total of three times. Once they’re used up, the Servant is free from his Master’s control.” She explained. Her voice was gentle, calming, and soothing. Rin held up her hand, the back twisted so Shirou could see, which is when he remembered the conversation the two of them had earlier; he lifted up his hand, revealing his very own set of command seals. Both his and Rin’s glowed bright red when visible, and were decorated in the same exact pattern, but disappeared a few seconds after appearing. Shirou’s short orange spike hair blew slightly, Rin’s long, flowing, black hair in twin tails blew wildly, Saber’s long strands of blond hair pinned to her sides blew wildly, and Archer’s short, spiky, silver hair blew slightly, all as the wind casually rustled by. Saber turned to Rin, clutching her right fist and holding it respectfully over her chest, bending ever so slightly, without her knee ever coming close to connecting with the ground. “Master,” she stated. “Should we go after them?” “No.” She responded, releasing a deep sigh. “They’re probably miles away by now.” Shirou tried to approach Rin, but was swiftly halted by Saber, who stuck her invisible weapon between them; except it wasn’t invisible this time, for some reason, and could faintly made out as a sword made out of some sort of air or wind, as far as Shirou could tell. This action caused Archer to also get defensive, raising his bow and cocking another arrow, his scarlet eyes pressing down the site toward Saber. “Stand down!” Rin snapped with quick fury, raising the back of her hand toward Saber. Saber was confused, but did as she was told, slowly backing away, her sword disappearing. Shirou made the same motion toward Archer, except without a word, and continued his trek toward Rin. A stern tone, he got straight to the point. “Rin, please explain this to me. Why did your Servant try to attack me?” Rin gave a somber expression, reaching out and grabbing hold of his shoulder. “Because Shirou.....ou’re an enemy now.” She said in a whisper. Shirou screwed up his face, tried to reach out her her, but she backed away, letting go of his shoulder. “W-What are you talking about.” “Didn’t I already tell you?” She stammered. “This is a war. And because we were both chosen, we’ve been pitted against each other; there’s nothing we can do about it.” Rin then gave a warm smile that almost made Shirou’s heart melt. “It’s funny, isn’t it? I never thought that you, of all people, would be chosen for the Holy Grail War.” Rin turned to walk away. After she passed Saber, she started to follow. Shirou reached out his hand in hopeless vein, even though she couldn’t see it. After dropping his hand to dead motion, as if his spirit had been broken, she turned around one final time and said, “We can part ways this time, in respect for our past together; but next time we meet, we’ll be enemies. Prepare yourself.” And before Shirou could respond, they were out of sight, Shirou’s heart sinking in sadness, and his eyes welling up with tears, which sparkled down his cheeks in the sun that was just beginning to set. Previous Chapter Next Chapter Category:Chapters Category:Fate/stay night: Chilling Winter Chapters Category:Stories